AUSTIN - Two decades ago, Homer the Homeless Goose squawked his way to international fame.

In the late 1980s, the Austin fowl grabbed headlines when local homeless activists threatened to eat him unless city leaders agreed to a meeting about homelessness. He survived, met Willie Nelson, went to the 1988 Democratic National Convention and spent several months on a raft in Lady Bird Lake with two human companions protesting homelessness.

And then, like most celebrities du jour, he faded away.

But Homer - the goose whom some credit with sparking the city's homeless advocacy movement - is still alive and well. For the past year, the 22-year-old White Chinese goose has resided in a terraced yard at the Austin Zoo. He has outlived two of his mates (Hazel I and Hazel II) and has now taken up with Hazel III.

He sunbathes. He plays in his pool. He enjoys a daily breakfast of eggs, alfalfa, broccoli and lettuce. And he remains a star in the eyes of those who love him.

"I think everybody just assumes he's dead because they haven't heard anything about him," said Patti Clark, executive director of the Austin Zoo.

Homer burst onto the local political scene in May 1988 when advocates decided they needed a flashy gimmick to draw the public's attention to homelessness.

After taking up a collection of $17, several homeless men and community activist Lori Cervenak-Renteria purchased the then-gosling from Callahan's General Store.

After toying with a few names, they decided to call the snowy fowl Homer.

"They wanted the word 'home' in there," Cervenak-Renteria recalled.

But Homer was not to serve as their pet. Instead, several homeless men - backed by a slew of supporters - threatened to kill the bird unless city officials met with them to discuss solutions to homelessness, such as affordable housing and job training. Animal lovers were outraged.

City leaders agreed to talk to the protesters. In the end, Cervenak-Renteria said, the most concrete results of those talks included office space and addition funding for several homeless advocacy organizations.

"If you were to focus on a single event that started this community looking at homelessness, this would be it," said Greg Gibson, housing administrator at Austin Travis County Integral Care, which provides services to people with mental illness.

Homer's star continued to rise. After the goose was splashed on television shows and newspapers across the world, two local advocacy groups raised money to fly Homer first class on Delta Air Lines to the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. During his visit - Homer was accompanied by several homeless people and advocates - he met then-Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, activist Jesse Jackson and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, Cervenak-Renteria said.

That October, Homer and two homeless men launched and lived on three makeshift rafts on Lady Bird Lake. Homer had his own small raft, which was tied to one of the other boats. The men stayed on the water for 135 days before the city confiscated their rafts, but Homer only lasted a few months.

That winter, Homer's raft flipped over and the goose disappeared, Cervenak-Renteria said. He was discovered four days later stuck in the mud near the Lakeside Apartments on Trinity Street, dehydrated and malnourished.

"Even the Austin Police Department put out an all-points bulletin for him," she said. "It was so funny."

Cervenak-Renteria took him home and let him live in her yard. He stayed there 18 years.

During that period, Homer lived the life of a part-time activist, making appearances at events and occasionally leading marches to protest social injustice.

But mostly, he spent his days in his pen, eating Alley Cat brand cat food, squawking at neighbors and occasionally hanging out at a nearby middle school. He recognized the sound of Cervenak-Renteria's Ford F-150 pickup and always greeted family members.

"He was smelly and loud," Cervenak-Renteria said, laughing. "When he saw strangers, he would really go nuts. (Geese are) very protective of their yard."

In 2006, Cervenak-Renteria's growing family obligations forced her to find a new home for Homer. The goose spent three years at a local aviary. Then in August 2009, the owners, who said they were closing the business, asked the zoo to take him, Clark said.

Since then, Homer has enjoyed a quiet life in the zoo. He has slowed down a lot - his arthritis flares up now and then - and his caretakers built him a ramp so he can get into his wading pool. He loves attention and perks up when he sees visitors.

And while the other geese occasionally snap at each other, they always defer to Homer, Clark said.

"He's the sweetest goose we've ever had," she said.

Two decades after Homer gained fame, Austin still struggles with homelessness. Advocates estimate that 3,500 to 4,000 people are homeless on any given night. But much has been accomplished in terms of housing and services, Gibson said. And Cervenak-Renteria gives a lot of the credit to Homer.

"He humanized homelessness and turned it from a numbers game into a human tragedy," she said.